Icefire

by Robert C. Wilson

A psychopathic sex murderer ignites a riot in a mental hospital for the criminally insane and leads a brutal search for the fleeing guards and doctors across a remote, icy, and rugged terrain.

Genres: Horror, Thriller, Fiction

509 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Horror author

**Not to be confused with the SF writer, Robert Charles Wilson**

Reviews

[Kenneth McKinley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wilson's ICEFIRE is a doorstopper of a novel that many people poo poo because, heaven forbid, it has many words within it's covers. I think it's unfortunate because ICEFIRE really is a solid read. It was written in a different time period, the early 1980s. MTV was still in it's infancy and hadn't corrupted the brains of my generation to the point where we could only focus on something for only 2 seconds at a time yet. Books were thicker than the 180-220 page fast and furious reads we have now. Authors spent more time building atmosphere, creating three-dimensional characters, and using more than the bare minimum word usage to do it. I miss those days and sometimes long for a book that gets a little long winded, as long as it's done well. And Wilson's ICEFIRE certainly does.

An island in Lake Michigan is used as the building site of a maximum security mental hospital. The worst of the worst are brought here. Think of Alcatraz as a looney bin. Here we meet a team of doctors with differing opinions of how to treat the patients. We also meet the patients themselves and delve back into what brought them there. It also introduces us the some of the guards and their families. Wilson does this in a way that it gives us a clear backdrop of the characters and their surroundings. Then one stupid and greedy decision by a character sets off a chain reaction of events where all hell breaks loose. This is where ICEFIRE shines and I wish there was more of it.

Yes, there's a lot of description, but there's also plenty of action and this is where I disagree with some of the other reviewers. ICEFIRE does have a couple of periods where it bogs down, but it's not meant to be a fast and furious paced read. If that's what you're looking for, why in the hell did you pick up a 500+ page book? Wilson's writing style is smooth and easy. His characters are distinctly unique from each other and easy to remember. And the way he describes the subzero terrain of the island will make your toes ache. One of my only complaints is that why didn't the characters have firearms of their own? I mean, living on a rugged remote island where hunting is part of how you eat, I'd think a few well loaded rifles in the protagonist's cabins would've been a no-brainer. Other than that, I really enjoyed ICEFIRE, and it was everything I was wanting at the time - a nice, slow, descriptive read that I could immerse myself in.


4 1/2 Frostbitten Toes out of 5


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[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once again dipping into my box of 80s horror. I read Wilson's Crooked Tree and this is better. What could go wrong with a prison for the criminally insane on an island in Lake Superior in the middle of winter? Icefire is definitely a slow burn, with a lot of threads and character development (some might say too much), building to an ending that, while exciting, was pretty predictable. The best for me was the depiction of the island frozen in the lake, especially reading this from Florida in December.

[Feliks · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unmemorable, awkward, and somewhat tedious horror fiction; all except for one *superbly* conceived scene which I will describe to you now.

A guard at a mental institution is captured by the inmates when they manage to take over the facility. The asylum is set in remote Alaska or the Yukon Territory. It is *well* below freezing outside. [But you see immediately, how contrived all this is, right? Not a setting/locale most of us can relate to.]

I digress. The fate devised for this one unlucky guard--his punishment, as conceived by the feeble-minded, psycho inmates is ...grim. He is stripped down to his naked skin and tossed outside into a building courtyard which is open to the night sky, open to the wind, open to the freakish, sub-zero temperatures.

They crowd around the windows watching him, laughing. Little to no chance of escape. The whole compound has been taken over by the patients. Communications seized. Authorities might not come for hours, or days. Who exactly is going to rescue this sap? He needs assistance in the very next few minutes.

Its weird how a human being--any human being--will always hold out hope for some highly-unlikely rescue no matter how plainly 'final' a situation becomes. This guy (in my opinion) was finished as soon as they grabbed him and stripped him.

Naturally, he probably doesn't agree. We never give up on ourselves.

So he stands there in the snow, huffing-and-puffing, flapping his arms together to keep circulation up; stamping his feet; teeth chattering; panic rising. How long will they keep him out here? They won't just--leave him there, will they? (as you read this you mentally start ticking off the seconds remaining for his survival)

Okay so, eventually (2-3 minutes later?) they open the door! He's elated. He's relieved. They must've relented; they're going to let him back in. They're not that crazy --not crazy enough to just let a man die, outside, unclothed, naked in sub-zero temperatures. They wouldn't do that. They're having a joke, that's all.

But the sudden shock of reality contradicts him. An icy bucket of cold water is heaved at him from the door. Drenching him. Can you imagine? Then the door slams shut again and he hears it lock. Faces continue to grin and chuckle from behind the windows.

That's it. He is officially done. Pretty horrible.

Egads. For some reason this frightening scene has never left me. Burrr!

Otherwise, a snoozer of a story. Unpalatable; unsavory; and cheap.

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

You can pretty much skip the first 250 pages of the book, since nothing really happens. Storyline is good, but author goes way overboard on description and detail on the thoughts of the characters. It bogged the story down.

[Wayne · Rating 2 out of 5]

For me, a book this long, over 500 pages, has to be pretty spectacular. This unfortunately was not. Lots of talk and more padding than a sectional sofa for a giant family. If this could have been condensed down to 200+ pages, it might have been good. Too much talk of anti-depressants for me.

[Barbara Chambers · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not like this book, I read it because when I start a book I have to finish it.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd give this one 3.5 stars if I could. I heard someone say "This isn't technically horror" and they were kinda right. I would call this one a suspense/thriller, but still a decent read.

I'd also call this one a "slow burn," lots of build up and character development, but it did take a solid 250 pages for the action to really get going, and I think that is a lot of people's "beef" with this book, but I didn't hate it.

[Reevrb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good writing for the most part but too long you really have to be patient with this book to enjoy it.